Being Human
by WS.Blue
Summary: What if for the past 17 years, Raven has been living by Trigon's side, and upon the coming of her birthday, he sends her back to Earth with the resurrected Slade as her guard?
1. Nightingale

Slade Wilson had never been a man of superstition or faith, but years as a professional terminator taught him that gods and demons existed in many ways, just not the kind preached in the common bible. One such being bellowed in his head, its disembowelled voice promised many things, all for just a simple task. He recognised the evil in his tone, and the danger that followed with it, but the deal wasn't bad, however whether or not the demon would keep his words was another matter. Dealing with demons had always been a risky business, but with nothing else to negotiate with but his skills and experiences, he accepted this risk as a chance to change the fate that was bestowed upon him.

"Heed my command, and I will return what you want most," was what the hollowed voice said, but Slade knew just as well as this 'Trigon' that he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

"Deal," was all Slade needed to tell him, but his life was his own, he served no one.

He opened his eyes to darkness, only the rocky surface he was lying on told him that he was back underground, in some cave or tunnel, probably somewhere near where he died. Some time must have passed since Terra betrayed and dropped him into a pool of magma, the tremors were gone, and the tunnel walls appeared to be firm and sound. Still flat on the ground, he blindly groped around with his hand, and found a fist-sized rock, testing his strength, he tightened his grip and crashed the rock into tiny bits, as promised he was rewarded with greater strength and probably some other powers he suddenly was aware that he was able to do. However, he didn't need to remove the gloves to know that he was nothing but mere muscles and bones, reanimated by demonic magic.

With vision still swirling and head throbbing, he knew better than anyone that his body wasn't in a tiptop position, but as the stubborn and cautious man he was, he wasn't willing to reveal his weakness. He forced himself up, and tried to regain his bearings. There were no light, but he could see as clear as if it was day, he quickly surveyed the area, staring into empty space, while listening for any hints of life. He found no Titans, but instead a strange black blot shifting slowly among the shadow, the shape was blacker than the surrounding darkness that it was trying to blend into, and it was alive and reading Slade's every move. The shape then took form as he now saw for himself the person he was 'asked' to protect, and soon, the 'it' became a 'she', dressed in a grey cloak with a drawn hood, concealed beneath it was a figure-hugging full-length dress which split at the sides from waist down, revealing skin and the thigh-high heel boots. Other than that, she looked remarkably human, a bit young, and a lot smaller than he thought, but a human nevertheless, a human with her face half hidden by the drawn hood, hiding behind the demon's lies and illusions.

Offering no words, Slade picked a direction and turned away, relying on nothing but his guts and the almost absent breeze telling him of an opening, a mutual silence was maintained between the two strangers as they embarked on a trek out. Though no words were exchanged between them, and no sound could be heard behind him, somehow knew that she was there right behind him, with his every sense tingling with warning, and alerted with danger, a sensation no different from what he felt from the demon who resurrected him.

With the entrance to the open world now in sight, Slade came to a slow halt, the opening was small but was wide enough to allow the two to escape to freedom, and to a smell Slade was almost glad to encounter. The same quake Terra made to kill him must have caused this opening to the sewers, taking the first step from between the soil and rocks, he landed ankle-deep into the unidentifiable sewers water. Slade was no stranger to the underground network that carried the city's waste, but this time he had no idea where they had ended up in, though that was enough of a reason for most to start worrying, he remained calm. Wondering if his guest was adapting well to the filth, he turned slightly to offer a peek, he saw the girl jumping into the murky waters without hesitation, realising the stupidity of his action, Slade snorted.

The sewer tunnels they travelled in were dark and damp, lit by the occasion flickering fluorescent lights. Their journey continued with the girl behind him, the ripples made by her steps and cloak brought another form of comfort to the older man, they were telling him that she was real, and not some floating imaginary ghost, but more importantly they also revealed to him what kind of person she really was. Every step she took were forceful, she wasn't exactly in a clear state of mind herself, and every time a rat or dozens were spotted, he could feel the disturbance in the wave, he could feel her every jumps, she was more human than he thought. Minutes passed before Slade found a worn rusted sign telling him which junction they were in, skipping pass the obvious manhole above them, he led them in another direction, now knowing where they were, he was planning to bring her home, or at least one of the many hideouts he had in the city.

They walked on for hours more, when his destination was finally in sight, he spared a thought for the girl, wondering if she was tired, then he turned his attention to himself. Slade wasn't a man to be easily tired, but now he wondered if his current endurance was telling him that he was normal or that it originated from his undead condition. Turning to fully face the girl for the first time under the light since they started travelling together, he saw a girl with her tiny fists clenching hard onto the cloak, holding it high above the filthy water, a normal girl, a very normal and tired girl.

Remembering something, he said, "You can call me Slade, and I still don't know your name."

It took a while for the answer to come, which she replied in a feeble voice, "I have none."

"_Not so normal after all,"_ he grimly reminded himself.

Above him was a secured hatch, with no visible way of getting up, but without wasting a second, Slade swiftly scaled the wall using the pipes and loose bricks. Once he reached the top, he slid open a hidden keypad to unlock the hatch was meant to be an emergency escape, but ended up as an escape from this gloomy hell.

As the hatch clanked open, Slade thought he heard something, and looked down. The murky waters below were calm with no ripples, and the girl had appeared right below him. She was looking up at him, her hood fell back to reveal the pale skin and violet hair, but it was that eyes that caught his attention. Her eyes were of violet-blue colours, and from them, Slade could a personality Slade didn't know the girl could possess. Breaking into a gentle smile, the girl said in a clear voice, "My name is Raven."


	2. Chicken

Slade took in the voice, and stayed still where he was, doing nothing, satisfied with just looking down into her unwavering stare. Seconds felt like a minute, and hours felt like a second, in the end, Slade forced himself into shaking his head to shake free of her gaze, he resumed his climb through the hatch. Up in his lair, he looked down through the hatch only to see that the hood was already back on, reaching down, he pulled the petite girl up with ease.

The basement they emerged into was at one time a large-scale manufacturing factory, owned by himself via a dummy company, once it lost its financial potential, it was closed and expanded downwards, reinforced with various security measures to be use as a hideout.

After the very brief introduction of her name, the girl had reverted back into her introvert self with the hood back on again, saying nothing and allowing herself to be led blindly closer to the core of his sanctuary, and the answer as to where they were now going soon became apparent to the girl. The room they ended up in were fitted with multiple cubicles with fogged glass doors and showerheads on one side, and rows of benches and lockers on the other. Though himself had no need to have such a big facility just for sanitary purposes, during the renovation process, a certain someone had secretly kept and upgraded the original shower room, speaking of which, Slade wondered what happened to his old friend and mentor, William Randolph Wintergreen. Knowing him, he was probably alive and well, still kicking some asses somewhere.

Opening a few of the lockers until he found what he was looking for, he turned to see his guest still standing stiffly by the door.

"Come in already," Slade yelled.

Which she did, though only by a step into the room.

Giving up, Slade threw folds of clothes over the cubicle door closest to her, while entering another cubicle. The moment he closed the door behind him, he wondered it was a mistake, what if she decided to run away while unwatched? Though then again, all Trigon told him was to keep her safe, nothing about keeping as a prisoner. Brushing the thoughts aside, he began to examine himself to see for himself the severity of his injuries.

He didn't need a mirror to see he was in a horrible state, he was more bones than flesh, and whatever remained were both black and grey, with chunks of holes. Though wary of the thoughts, he had to make sure, feeling about the back of his skull, and it was only after that he was certain his brain was very much secured and intact before he put the armour back on and turned on the water.

Slade didn't really take a shower, more like washing away the filth and smell with his armour on, there was no reason to change his body armour, what Trigon gave him was brand new, also, he didn't know if his current body could hold together if he was to go naked without the armour. In the end, the shower didn't take long, exiting the cubicle, he found the girl's dress and hood hanging over the door, and the boots outside. Pulling her clothes over, he heard a surprised yelp behind the door, and ignored it. Walking over to another end of the room, he threw the girl's only processions into a duct leading to the furnace.

Hearing the water being turned off, Slade sat on the bench and waited, though the cubicles were separated by bricked walls, the doors to them were just fogged glass. Taking this chance, Slade examined the outline of her body, and though he found no wings or tail, Slade didn't let his guard down. For a demon's daughter, she was too 'normal', something was wrong with this picture, and he couldn't find it.

"_No,"_ he suddenly reminded himself.

Recalling the scene back under the hatch, it wasn't just the change in her tone and presence, but more importantly, something happened back there. Slade usually could estimate relatively well the time passed even without a time-keeping device like a watch, but at that instance, thought it felt like a second, but his instinct was telling him that it was a lot more than that. Without natural lighting or clock, he could never tell just how long had passed, and what were lost. What happened then, did the demon girl took her time ravaging through his head, and played around with his memories? No point ranting over it, what lost were lost, he had left his guard down despite knowing the danger. Even so, he beat his fist against the wooden bench once, he felt so stupid.

As if on cue, she exited the cubicle, without her hood to hide behind with, embarrassment was clear on her face, dressed in a white long sleeve shirt with a larger grey shirt with black sleeves over it, and a pair of blue jeans shorts. Slade was right, Terra had always been tall and skinny, without much of a figure to go with, her own clothes could barely fit her, but it wasn't like they had much of a choice. Even so, Slade regretted it almost immediately, being reminded of her betrayal wasn't a good way to start after his silly mistake.

"Follow me, Raven, I'll show you your room," Slade said without revealing his anger at both himself and her, while also keeping his mind sealed to prevent any more mental assaults.

The room wasn't far, but he took her the long way around to it, one was to disorientate her, the other was that he needed some time with her. After calling her a few times to walk faster, he made sure she was walking right beside him before asking, "Trigon didn't tell me much of my mission, like who am I protecting you from?"

With her walking by his side, he could now see the surprise on her, but still she said nothing.

"You know something, say it."

"I…," was all he got from her before he gave up and lead them to the bedroom, more accurately, Terra's room.

With his patience was running thin with the girl, Slade turned slightly to face her, and said in a coarse tone like an executioner reading to the prisoner her last rite, "This will be your room, and you'll be safe here."

The girl paid no heed to what he said, which just annoyed him. Though the room held little but the basic essential, from a stainless steel-framed bed to a simple desk and its matching wardrobe, the tiny postcards pasted on one side of the room immediately attracted her over. The postcards depicted locations she had never seen before, bringing up one hand, she traced with one finger over the outlines of the mountains and trees.

Ignoring the sight, Slade closed the door behind him without waiting for a response, he wasn't expecting any anyway. Slade had forgotten about the postcards pasted by Terra, showing locations she had wanted to visit at least once in her life. Those postcards were pretty much the only things she had, also the only things he had allowed her to 'decorate' the place, all of these were of course back when they were on a friendlier terms. Leaving the room, he headed over to the command room, and even though there were no one else in this base, he nevertheless talked out loud, to the almost omniscience computer that watched every corner of the place, "Computer, search through all databanks on a demon called 'Trigon', project it to the main screen."

Slade had hoped that nothing would surprise him anymore, but it wasn't so when he saw the date on the computer screen. Months had passed since Terra betrayed him, he was sure that she had died too. A fleeing thought was spent pitying her death, otherwise he would catch and torture her, but it turned to remorse and memories how he first thought of the girl. Some period of time in the past, when they were together, he had for a while, thought of her like a daughter, one to replace the one he lost to no one but himself. She was promising, a student, a successor maybe, unlikely but he had hoped. How did it turned to become like this, it was his idealist goal that changed him to turn her against him. Who else in the world could he blame, but himself?

In the end, he couldn't deny the wish he held onto, that she somehow survived.


	3. Tanager

With the skies tinted red from the fires below, the sea dyed from the spilled blood, and the iconic T-shaped tower bended and crooked, but there was no doubt where he was. Smell of rot lingered in the air, and beneath his very feet were the shattered bones and burned flesh of the dead. All of these were too surreal to be real, it could only be a dream, he realised.

"_What are you doing here?"_ asked a clear voice that echoed from within his head.

…

Slade Wilson woke up with an aching neck, despite the uncomfortable position he was in, half-slumped on the armchair, he made no attempt to move. He had only intended to rest for a while, but somehow it ended up as a nap. He usually could bear any sleep deprived fatigue, but to just fall asleep like that, he realised that even with the dark magic working in him, his own body was probably already at its physical limit.

Returning his attention to the screen, he saw that the computer had stopped in its search process, citing 'CONNECTION LOST' as a reason, not unusual considering the age of this place, it could be due to many factors, from rats, insects, to rust. Whatever the cause was, he was too tired to care. After briefly skimming through the few churns of articles the computer could find before killing itself off, he concluded them to be useless, and switched over to the security and surveillance system. The cameras and sensors were still working, but something worrying soon caught his attention. Raven was still in her room, but she was tossing and turning, the 'live' footage was muted by default, but he had no need to have the audio enabled to know that she was screaming.

Slade quickly darted over towards the room, but once the short distance was conquered, an obstacle was immediately presented before him. With a hideout of this size, there were of course some measures of security implemented into it, but the door to Terra's bedroom was one of those that wasn't locked, and would have opened automatically to whoever stand before it, since there had nothing of value in it, and usually it was occupied by Terra anyway. Upon his arrival, it was natural for the man who designed the place to be puzzled as to why the door remained shut.

"Open the door," Slade said with a raise voice, not at the occupant of the room, but at the all-seeing computer, but he knew that such command shouldn't be needed in the first place.

Nothing happened. The moment of confusion was quickly replaced by a short burst of frustration, just before he turned to fetch the necessary tools to break it down, he gave the door a quick kick. Surprisingly, the reinforced door caved to the punishment dealt onto it, but there was no time for him to be alarmed, because the heavy door was _sinking_ into a black void instead of just crushing onto the ground. The room inside was masked in absolute blackness, not even the light from the corridor could penetrate it, and there was a distinct boundary of the darkness reaching only up to the brim of the room. Sticking a hand into the murky mass, there was a certain resistive friction in it, as if it was some sort of thick cold mud. Nothing would be done if he just remained there, without a second thought, Slade walked up and into the shadow.

The feeling of passing the boundary was akin to how a person would feel if he was to plunge into a body of water from a great height in slow motion. Once he passed the border, his eye quickly adapted itself to the darkness, barely, but the muddy feeling remained, and he wasn't sure if he was breathing at all. What caught his attention however was the girl on the bed, tossing and turning, letting out soundless shrieks, with mystery blood pattern sipping through her shirt; cuts in the shape of claws were forming beneath it, but the garment remained whole. He instantly tried to scuttle over to her side, but the invisible air drag in the room suddenly strengthened. Almost being pulled out of the room, he went to a crouching position, and struggled to stomp this way though. With the gravity-like force growing stronger the closer he was to her, by the time he was by the bed, the doorway had virtually became a black hole, forcing the terminator to use frame of the bed as leverage to pull himself _up_. Once he was by the bed, he was momentarily at a lost at what the cause was and what he could do to help her.

"Raven!" the guardian shouted.

One arm still anchored around the leg of the bed, he used the free hand to shake and blindly slap the girl to wake her up. Pulling himself up to get a better look, he saw instead another figure in tattered robes prowling on all fours over where the girl should be. If he had the luxury to speculate, he would have guessed that the robe looked more like a red hooded cloak. The figure noticed his presence and snarled at him. Instinct came before he had the chance to even feel surprised, he threw a straight punch at the hooded figure, but it only connected with air, hitting nothing as the spell over the room suddenly disappeared.

Immediately, the gravitational anomaly disappeared and became upright again, causing Slade to fall flat on the floor, and following after were the vanishing of the black fog, along with the sudden materialisation of the undamaged door. The girl was still in a bloody mess, she stirred and groaned, and upon regaining awareness and without a moment of hesitation, captured Slade in a hug, who cautiously put his arms around the girl as well. There were so many questions he wanted to know, but not wasn't the time. Though neither was saying anything, he could tell that she was crying.

Eventually she pushed Slade away, lying back down with her back facing him. "Go away, I am trying to sleep."

The demoness was very resilient towards the thought of falling asleep again, and though he was unwelcomed to stay by her side, Slade nevertheless stubbornly decided to stay, at least until she slept, but he never left, and continued to rest against the wall besides the bed instead. When he certain that she had finally fallen back asleep, and that was time for him to leave, the girl suddenly turn on the bed resulted in her hand meeting his, ending with it loosely holding onto to the hand he rested on the bed. Slade could have easily untangled the fingers around his, but somehow, he submitted himself to remain by her side for tonight.

The much deserved rest soon caught up to him, bringing along something else.


	4. Peacock

With the skies tinted red from the fires below, the sea dyed from the spilled blood, and the iconic T-shaped tower bended and crooked, but there was no doubt where he was. Smell of rot lingered in the air, and beneath his very feet were the shattered bones and burned flesh of the dead. All of these were too surreal to be real, it could only be a dream, he realised.

"What are you doing here?" asked the clear voice that came from amongst the erratic noise of madness that drowned the world.

Recognising the voice, Slade greeted the girl, "Terra."

…

Slade's lone eye shot open, darting from left and right while remaining perfectly still, trying to find the source of the voice, realising that it was just a dream, he calmed himself down. Tilting his head slightly, he looked at the girl who was still asleep, and her hand still holding onto his.

"_Damn girl,"_ came to him naturally though he couldn't remember why, and whom he was cursing. _"Stupid dream."_

The remaining night remained peaceful, Slade rested but couldn't sleep now because of the dream he could hardly remember. The slightest movement on the bed woke him up in an instance. Eye opened halfway behind the mask, he faked slumber and watched the girl carefully removing her fingers from his hand. She returned to lay down on the bed, probably to think back to what happened last night, or why he was still with her. Some time passed before she sneaked off the bed, back on her feet, she examined her blood-stained shirt, and after a brief look to the man by the bed, she exited through the automated door as if nothing happened.

Slade gave her a few seconds head start once her quiet steps went out of his earshot before standing up quietly, did a quick stretch, and followed after the girl. For a girl as quiet as she was, Slade was surprised to know how easy it was to follow her without being noticed, though that was quickly replaced by the irritable annoyance upon realising where they were going. For the past few turns around the corners of his lair, she had been leading him in a straight path to the closer of the two exits to the surface.

"_Damn girl. Damn telepath. Damn fucking telepath."_

Slade had always been good with keeping, or at least hiding his emotions, but been mind-read just pissed him more than possibly being killed by a traitor. Dead was one thing, but having every secrets reviewed was on his book – the worst possibly scenario he could imagine.

Where he ended up was as he expected, the garage of the hideout, capable of holding up to three vehicles of choice, but most of the times emptied except for his various choices of motorcycles and occasionally Wintergreen's limo, it also had a secured stairway leading to another secured room on the surface inside the factory he owned.

What was presented before him was the keypad to unlock the door, neither was the keypad appeared to be used, nor the door opened judging by the amount of dust around them. Slade paused there for a second, wondering how to straggle someone who could walk through wall. Eventually, Slade keyed in the code, and took the stairs up.

Raven didn't go far, and Slade found her standing idly just outside the factory building, looking up at the twilight skies transitioning from night to dawn. He saw that she was now back in the same cloak, dress and knee-high boots he personally threw away, and under the pending dawn, the colour of her attire didn't look like the same grey he knew.

"Beautiful," Raven said.

Thinking that she was merely talking to herself, Slade ignored it and quietly stayed behind by garage door.

"Isn't it, Slade Wilson?" Raven asked, this time tilting her head a little to look at the terminator in the eye with a smile.

"Raven," he greeted smoothly and grimly. He was annoyed that he didn't know when and how Raven found out that he was following her, but he hid his emotions well.

The smile on her face disappeared as sudden as it came, replaced with a pair of widened eyes, and the smile melted into an unpleasant frown.

"Slade…," the girl greeted again, softer this time. Slowly bringing up her hands to pull the grey hood back down to cover her eyes.

The girl smiled again, but this time in resign, and started walking back to the entrance of his underground lair. As the girl walked passed Slade, he asked, "What was that?"

Without stopping, the girl answered in her old monotonous tone, "Just a nightmare."

Slade waited for a brief second to see if anything would be said, and then said, "I saw another girl."

The demoness halted abruptly in her steps, turning around, showing surprised on her face, as if what he saw was something he couldn't have.

While it was true that Trigon himself was crucial to everything that was happening now, he realised that he should have started off understanding who was this Raven first. Trigon had told him to protect his 'daughter', but the existence of a second Raven demanded him to understand more. Why must she be protected, and from whom?

"Raven," Slade insisted on with a firmer tone.

Without turning to face him, she answered back softly, "Please stop calling me that, I'm not the 'Raven' Trigon asked you to protect, I never will be."

"What do you mean?" Slade asked without missing a beat. Moving forward, he grasped hold of her wrist, and forcefully spun her around to face him.

Though initially she tried to separate herself from the stronger man, she eventually submitted to his hold. The pair remained like that for a while, both waiting for each other to say something. Slade could feel the girl trembling under his hold, and was surprised when it was she who spoke first, " 'Raven' is the name given by Trigon to his daughter, I was never given one."

Unfazed about it, Slade instead pressed for more, "What is the significant of your birthday? What will happen on that day?"

"Trigon will come through _this_ body, to rule or destroy the world – your world. You sold your soul to him, and didn't even know about this?" 'Raven' cried, this time louder, almost to the point of being a shout.

Slade could detect the irritation and frustration in her tone, and she appeared to be forcefully trying to hide it, no, more accurately, she was trying to bury her emotion and kill it. Slade wasn't offended by her vent, neither was he surprised by the revelation, he was just annoyed, more so at Trigon than Raven, but continued to calmly pressure her for answers, "How can I stop this?"

"Kill me," she bluntly said with a straight face.

The slap that followed surprised even Slade himself, which he almost felt regretfully for doing so. "I was hired to protect you, and that I will do, no matter who that girl is, her background, or from whom. I'm not going to let you die. Tell me, how can this be stopped?"

The anger in the girl melted along with the pretence of being calm and rational, in their place was the sincere look of being surprised with wide eyes and one hand on the cheek Slade slapped. After absorbing what was told to her, and finally understood his intention, the solution she had believed in all along came out easier than she thought, "Trigon will come to Earth, nothing can stop that. But once he's here, he will be momentarily weakened, that is the only chance he can be defeated."

Slade could already see the difficulty in doing that, Trigon gave him his body, Trigon practically already owned the body he was using, who knew what would happen the moment Slade turned against Trigon. The nameless girl said nothing, but Slade could already see the disappointment on her face much like how she managed to see the doubt on his. Brushing his hand aside, the girl turned to walk again once more, this time Slade didn't try to stop her, but Slade did called out to her again, "Raven, Trigon looked for a villain to help him, we just need to find heroes to fight him."

"Heroes…?" the girl muttered as she slowed down in her pace.

"The Titans defeated me once, and as much as I hate to seek their help, they will have a better chance than I do, Raven."

The girl stopped entirely, possibly weighting his words against the chance they had against Trigon, but nevertheless cringed the moment the name was used. Seeing that, Slade said all of the sudden, "Rav- chel. You'll be called Rachel from now on." Though still holding onto his doubt, if it was to make her gain his trust, a name she would have.

There was a long pause before she could answer, but even with her eyes hidden by the hood, it was clear what was going on in her with her mouth left opened in awe over the name. " 'Rachel' ," she repeated. "Rachel… I like it…"

The girl suddenly brought up one hand to clasp her forehead as if in pain, and staggered a step back.

"Raven, what's wrong?!" Slade instantly called out, stumbling forward to catch the girl who looked like she was about to faint.

The same hand then smoothly pushed the hood back, with the other raised to motion Slade not to come near.

"I'm alright, just need some rest, I'll be going back first." The demoness started heading back into the opened hatch, but before taking the first step down the stairs, she turned one last time, asking, "Slade Wilson, can you truly protect me?"

"I will, I promise," Slade said, this time without hesitation.

With that, she left the adult alone in the abandoned factory to his thoughts, while carrying a fresh smile of her own.


	5. Mockingbird

Slade traced his steps back into the now exposed hideout, now with the weight of her words and the world on his shoulders. He cared little about her family dispute, but he couldn't forgive the thought of Trigon betraying him, not telling him the truth, what use was there to having his body back when there's no world to live in. The world had been in danger many times, but they were always saved by heroes, not him, even if he was the best mercenary Earth had to offer.

Assuming that now-named Rachel would be in her room, Slade proceed straight to the command room. Despite not having anything to eat for a day, thoughts of hunger never occurred to him, it was only on his way to the command room when he had to pass by the pantry that he realised even if he, an undead, couldn't get hungry, a demon could. There she was, Rachel, standing in an imposing commanding posture before a counter with her back straight and her arms folded, looking down at the single microwave machine sitting on the counter, like she was expecting something to happen just by glaring at it. It seemed that she knew what a microwave was, yet she couldn't figure out how to get herself fed through it. He didn't believe she was even aware of his presence until she spoke without looking at him, "Do you have anything to eat?"

"Yes, of course, your highness," Slade replied mockingly, however the sarcasm hit her like a stick to a stone.

Not even bothering to question how she knew where the pantry was, he just sighed, and walked over to the freezer. Taking out a box of frozen pizza, he checked the expiry date and mused over it, at least someone was expecting him to return alive, clearly Wintergreen had been keeping the inventory fresh even after all these months. After popping the pizza into the microwave, Slade left the pantry without giving Rachel any further instruction, but it seemed she understood what was going on, and was happy to just watch the plate spinning slowly in the microwave.

With the problem solved, Slade moved on to the next task, now that it was clear the place had been regularly maintained, there shouldn't be any reason why the computer's network would suddenly fail. Taking a detour to the server room, he did a quick check around the racks of machines, green indicator lights were everywhere except for one machine, which could be easily explained.

Picking up the stray cable off the floor, he looked at it intensively. Knowing where it belonged, he plugged the cable back into the socket, wiggled it a little, tugged it a little, all just to make sure it was secured before leaving the server room. Slade knew that only him and Wintergreen understood how easy to disconnect the network, but Wintergreen wouldn't be messing around _his_ machines, and the cable couldn't have possibly fallen out of its socket by itself, not to mention the connection was working fine before he fell asleep last night.

Returning to the command room, he cast a cautious glare at the girl dining on his map table, somehow, it almost felt like she would be at wherever he was heading. No more than ten minutes had passed, and she had nearly clear her own plate of pizza, and on the other end of the table, was, he assumed, to be his share, which she was pretending not to be staring at. Slade slid the plate of pizza over to the girl, and just said, "You can have it."

Ignoring the sight of the girl glutting down the second half of the pizza, Slade walked over to the screen, the computer had resumed its search through the network for 'Trigon' again. The girl must had seen that the computer was working again, but she was not showing any sign that she care.

Turning back towards Rachel, who remained seated with her eyes on him, he couldn't help but notice the second plate was already cleaned, ignoring it, he said in a commanding tone, "Tell me more about Trigon."

"Father is the incarnation of evil the source of all darkness, but he would be vulnerable for the brief moment he stepped over the portal to Earth," Rachel said, saying like a true propagandist.

"You sound like you hold Trigon in high regard."

"Got to respect a man who's good at what he does."

"What is his weakness?"

"He has none," Rachel said in a tone like she was expecting everyone to know that.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing, nothing physical, no weak link in his psyche, only that he wouldn't be at his full strength when he passed over, that is all. Believe me, I want him dead as much you do. If you want to kill him, you have to get him come over here, to your world, for a short while until he stabilised himself on this world, he would be weaker."

"Hmm," Slade hummed, pretending to be digesting the provided information, looking at Rachel, he then asked another question which he thought was just as important, "How many 'Ravens' are there?"

"What do you mean, Slade?"

"How many personalities do you have in that body of yours?"

" 'Personalities' eh?" Rachel questioned, sounding amused. "Only two, me and Raven," Rachel eventually answered.

"Tell me more about the other Raven."

"Raven is her father's daughter, she accepts her lineage and though not as powerful, she commands his power like her own."

"Would she be of any threat?"

"I'm confident enough to say that she does not want father to be on this side of the portal as much as we do."

"Would she help?"

"Maybe, if she thinks it's worth her effort."

"Convince her then, or would you like me to talk some sense into her?"

Rachel said nothing for a while, only placing her cold eyes on him. Slade himself didn't know what that meant, was she reading him, or was she 'talking' to her other self?

"I'll try," she said in the end.

"What of your mother?"

"What about _her_?"

"Whose side is she on?"

"She's a human. She's useless, and... possibly dead," she replied, but it told Slade more than she thought she did, on surface it sounded like there was some bad chemistry between them, but he felt from her words that she might not have hated her as much as the girl believed herself to have.

"Do you have a daughter?" Rachel asked suddenly, catching the man by surprise.

"You've already read my mind, you tell me," he answered coolly.

"Raven has only skimmed across the surface of your mind, she was more concerned about the layout of this place, but she did see something, a name maybe, a daughter maybe, but she's not sure herself," Rachel replied in slow broken sentence, as if looking for the right words.

Before Slade could even answer her question, which he had no intention to, the girl asked another, "In your world, do parents abandoning their daughter?"

"Enough, go to your room," Slade commanded by slamming his palm against the table.

Taken back by his response, Rachel glared at the man, looking shocked and angry at his response, before bolting up from her seat, and stormed off.

Slade watched on until the girl disappeared around the corner, then looked down at the palm he placed on the table. _"That was uncalled for,"_ he thought, he himself surprised at his outburst at the girl, but he couldn't deny that the girl was slowly getting onto his nerve. Looking at where the disappeared into, he said out loud to the computer as he slowly turned to face the screen, "Computer, show me our guest."

The monitor flickered to show several different angles of Rachel walking along the corridor, then into the room. She spent the next few minutes sitting on the chair, staring at Terra's postcards, then retreated to bed, all these he monitored through the multiple security cameras.

"Computer, show me the server room, based on the time when motion was detected."

The computer presented to him the latest few instances it detected movement, and it was easy enough to find what he was looking for. The first on the list was when he went in to fix the connection, the second was _he_ was supposed to be in a nap, before the attack from the red Raven from last night. Slade selected the second video segment showing _himself_ unplugging the network cable, and replayed it a few times, all these while without saying anything or showing any signs of emotions, eventually, he sighed and said, "Computer, find Wintergreen."


	6. Magpie

**Author: Sorry about the late update.**

After passing his instructions to Wintergreen, who appeared unfazed about Slade being alive, Slade checked one last time that Rachel was in the room via the security camera, before heading her way. The door opened normally this time, there was no dark gravitational anomaly, and Rachel was just standing there before the postcards. She turned to face him with a blank look, which could very well substitute as a question asking him why he was here.

"Thought it would be safer if I watch you personally," Slade told Rachel, and that wasn't a lie, but didn't mention that he meant it would be safer for him.

After watching the video of himself entering the server room to unplug the connection, Slade now knew two things, there was something Raven didn't want him to know, and she was able to use him to disrupt the search programme. Slade was trained to put up a mental barrier to protect his mind from being read or control, either she was a lot more powerful than he thought or that it was just a fluke because he was asleep back then. Seeing that she could control him from Terra's room, there was no point staying apart, he rather watched her every moves than to rely on the computer.

Rachel took in his words calmly, and quickly turned her attention back to the postcards, asking, "Where are these?"

"Various places around the world."

"I would like to go there some day, they look beautiful."

"That can be done, providing the world is still safe then."

"True."

Rachel then point one of the postcards with one hand, and asked for more details about the place, at which Slade would summarise the place with a few words. These repeated until Rachel exhausted the postcards she could ask, who in turn looked visibility bored.

"These cards don't belong to you, don't they?"

"What makes you say that?"

"You lack interest in them, and when I point at one, it took a while for you to think of what to say."

"Just looking for the right words."

Rachel smiled a little, then walked over, and sat on the bed.

"Are you going to stand there until my birthday?"

"If I have to," Slade said, realising himself that he had not moved from the spot since he entered the room.

"Tell me about the girl, whose clothes I worn. These cards belong to her, don't they?"

"Yes," Slade chose to reply the question, hoping that the former request would slip her mind.

"She's your daughter?"

"No."

"Where is she?"

"Dead," Slade said without a pause, he had confirmed with Wintergreen over her status, and heard from him about the statue the Titans raised for her.

The emotionless façade on the girl turned into a tiny frown, appearing confused with her gaze wondering towards the postcards, but she quickly recovered, and returned to fix your eyes on back to Slade.

"How did she die?"

"I killed her."

"Why?"

"It doesn't matter, she's dead, and that's history."

"Hmm," Rachel hummed, then a pause, as if waiting for something.

Slade didn't know what game she was playing, and didn't like it. The moment he spotted Rachel parting her lips, perhaps to ask another question about Terra, he fired off a question of his own just to shut her up, "Tell me more about your mother?"

"What about her? She's dead."

"How did she die?"

Rachel flushed, and glared angrily at him for split second before disappearing.

"It does not that matter, like you said, dead people are history," Rachel answered, sounding agitated.

True, he didn't really care about her mother, but it was a good start. The more he unnerved her, the better, perhaps once he broke down her defences, he could get something real out of her.

Rachel then looked down, and shook her head.

"Our mother is, _was_ the one who taught us to control our emotions. She first came to us in our dream, but when father caught us talking, mother stopped appearing in our dreams. He must have killed her, somehow..."

"I'm sorry that I brought it up," Slade said, though he honestly couldn't bring up enough effort to feel sorry for her. He then walked over and joined her on the bed, though sitting at the other end of the bed. "So, she might still be alive?"

"Hmm?"

"She's human, you mentioned that she only appeared in your dreams, so possibly that she stayed here, on Earth."

"Maybe..."

"You miss her?"

"Don't be absurd! Who cares about that whore of a mother who slept with father? Who cares about a mother who only in dreams, after I've lived a decade alone in father's realm? She never talked about rescuing me from there, only to control our emotions. 'Control your anger,' she said, control your hatred, control your lust, control your fucking everything except to get me out of the hell hole!" Rachel yelled, bolting up suddenly only to quickly sit back down. Bowing over with her hands covering her eyes, and taking slow deep breath to calm herself down.

"A parent won't abandon her daughter out of her own will, unless had to, or forced to."

"Go to hell, Slade Wilson," Rachel said in-between deep breaths, still hiding behind her hands. "Once this is over, maybe I will go look for my mother, and kill her, maybe I'll let you watch how bad parent dies. Hmm? Slade Wilson..."

Realising that he probably played his game for too long, Slade turned to leave.

"I'm sorry, Slade, that was _her_ speaking. But really, you sure know how to hit the right spot to wake her." Slapping herself lightly at the cheeks, she then continued, "I can't afford to be angry, if I lose control, the others would see it as a chance to take over my body.

"It's okay, there's nothing to forgive. Take a nap, and rest, I'll be watching outside."

"Let me see your face," Rachel said suddenly, striding in quick steps to conquer the distance between them, she pulled on one of his hand until he turned around and faced her. "I want to see what a human looks like, my mother was one, but we could only talk, the spell she used to reach me could only convey voices, I never know what she looked like."

"You just need to look at a mirror, she looks just like one. Besides, I don't have much left of a face," Slade calmly replied. Slade carried no shame over his facial scars and disfigurement, but the thought of revealing anything more to her irritated him greatly.

"It's okay, I have seen uglier lifeforms," Rachel said bluntly.

Letting himself being pulled to the bed, Slade sat down. Disregarded Slade's opinion, Rachel placed one finger, then two, on the chin end of his face mask, and Slade did nothing to stop her. Tilting slightly until a soft 'clink' was heard from the unhooking of the mask from the balaclava, Rachel slowly lifted the metal plate away from Slade's face. Though she appeared calm and emotionless, her hand was trembling, afraid to see what was behind it. Her hand suddenly lost its strength, and the faceplate slipped from her hand, ranging on the concrete floor with a few heavy 'clucks' before it settled, while at the same time Rachel backed up with hasty steps to the desk, with one hand supporting her weight before she finally sat down on the chair.

Slade bowed down to picked the mask and put it back on, deciding to let the girl take her time to recover.

"Who did that to you? Does it still hurt?" Rachel asked, sounding concerned.

"I fell, and got burnt. And no, it doesn't hurt any more."

"I lied. While it's true that I'm curious how my mother looked like, I have another reason I didn't tell you," Rachel said, then bit her lower lip lightly. "Raven took a dive into your memories, deeper than what I told you earlier. She saw scattered memories, scenes across time, the heroes you mentioned, and faces. The faces she saw were smiling and laughing when you were around, they were happy, and I can't help but wonder what kind of a man you are. What kind of a father are you. What did you do to make them so happy? She read you, but _we_ don't understand you."

Slade didn't know how to response, what was she expecting from him, a good guy? "You just didn't saw the part about them crying and begging."

Rachel faced away for a moment, thinking about something before suddenly saying with the old demanding tone, "I will return you your face."

"What?"

"I want to see who you really are, and that's the least I can do. Take off your clothes, and I'll try to fix your body." Still seeing doubt on him, she then said, "You won't want to have your clothes fused with the regenerated fresh, do you?"

"Does that mean-"

"No, my current power can only bring back your flesh as you last remembered yourself for a while, at least until father comes over," As if she could read his response though his mask, she then added, "I'm sorry, that's the best I can do for now…"

"It's okay, having a full body might prove to be the key in defeating him," Slade said, though he knew that whether or not he got his body back didn't really matter, with Trigon's power working his body, he felt better than ever.

"Once father is defeated, his hold on your flesh will be released, I swear I will properly fix your body then."

Slade got up and started with the mask, he peeled off the balaclava slowly, just in case Rachel decided to change her mind, but her eyes were firm and absolute. Ditching the sticky hood aside, he moved on to the gloves and then the pus-stained vest. When he lowered his trousers, and removed the pair of boots, Rachel looked like she was straining her eyes not to blink or look away. Finally, when he pulled off his last underwear, her eyes glowed white. The girl took a deep breath and walked briskly in quick steps towards him, the dress she was wearing grew in length with each step, extending its territory, tainting the concrete floor with dark shadow, and the scene felt familiar to him. Slade was certain Rachel didn't have her cloak on her when he entered the room, but he couldn't explain how it was now on her back, with the hood climbing back of her nape like a living thing, and then covered her head like when they first met. Rachel stretched out her arms, and the cloaks followed suit and spread out like wings, rising and expanding, fluttering in the dry windless room. The situation changed for the worse, without knowing what to expect, Slade tensed his body, readied himself to counter any attacks. It was a foolish mistake to think he could trust the demoness, and he feared it was now already too late. Just when the air around them blackened, the cloak came in and blanketed them. He witnessed this before, it was just like when he first entered the room with the red Raven in it, it was the same black anomaly that stole the lights.

Pain overwhelmed him, it felt so terrible that it robbed him of his voice and screams. He threw out an arm, trying to grab Rachel, then another arm, so that he could choke her like he should from the beginning. His arms didn't reach their intended target, just like how his feet felt like they were no on solid ground, Slade was now in a dark void.

When his senses returned to him, he was on the cold hard floor. Too numbed and dazed to be confused or angry, he looked to one side, and saw the door out to the corridor, and looked to the other, and saw Rachel in her cloak, eyes still glowing, but now leering down on him. Slade reactively reached out one hand towards the girl, and saw his hand – pink, raw, fresh and whole. Still on the floor, he looked down his chest, and sure enough, his body was back.

Facing Rachel, Slade chocked with a hoarse voice, "Thanks."

But the girl was no longer looking at him at all, her hands were on her crown, and her mouth opened as if grasping for air.

"Get out," she mustered.

Even so, Slade took his time to gather the scattered articles of clothes on the floor, while keeping his eye on her girl. Watching while waiting, he recognised the scene, it happened before back at the ground level of the factory.

"Get out!" she shouted so loud that the bolted-down desk and wardrobe rocked.

Slade cast one last look back at the girl before he left the room in unsteady drunken steps. The moment he was out of the room, he heard: "Get out of my head!" He turned to look, but the door was already shut, and doubt it would open even if he wanted it to.

Leaning against the wall, Slade checked one last time on his body before putting back on his clothes, all the while listening to the conversation that was happening in Terra's room.

"Be careful, you won't want to wake up rage," Slade heard the girl saying.

Nothing else happened as far as he knew after that, snapping his mask back on, he started making his head back to the command room, he could always watch the scene through the computer there. Reaching the computer, he was just about to have the computer replay the video he had the computer recorded before he realised of a notification on the computer screen indicating the search was completed. Slade promptly switched the screen over to the view of Terra's room to spy on the girl cowering under the blanket. Just when he switched the screen back to the reports generated by the computer, he saw the figure of an old man in the monitor's reflection.

"Wintergreen, good to see you."

"You too, sir."


	7. Ostrich

Wintergreen came prepared and in no time, went on ahead as planned, leaving the mercenary alone in the command room, letting him read the reports in peace. After examining the findings from the computer, Slade could now guess what it was that Raven was afraid to let him know. He hovered one hand over the button to delete the articles, though he was already determined to proceed as planned, he hesitated.

"The bombs have been placed around the hideout as you indicated on the map, and the robot army are in the factory above us, they should prove to be a malicious threat by numbers, but I'm sure the Titans can handle them," Wintergreen reported out of the sudden, with his hands placed behind him and his back straight, always the soldier, just the person Slade could always rely on to get things done. So engrossed over the discovery, he actually managed to let his butler surprised him, before turning around to face him, Slade pressed the button, and erasing the reports from the database.

Turning around, he saw Rachel stomping out from the corner behind Wintergreen, yelling, "What is the meaning of this, Slade Wilson?"

"We met on my way back," Wintergreen explained without casting a single glance at the girl.

"Rachel, meet Wintergreen."

"Please to meet you," the elderly man greeted with a slight bow as if it was their first encounter.

"Slade Wilson!" the demoness yelled. "What is going on? What's this about bombs and robots?"

"And the Titans?" Slade turned to ask his butler instead.

"I've leaked to them some intel about you, Trigon, and the end of the world, I'm sure they will be here."

"Good," Slade said. Turning towards Rachel, "Now, this is your turn."

With one hand on Rachel's head, Slade gently pushed and guided the girl out of the command room.

"The Titans are a bunch of overzealous fools who won't treat it seriously if they aren't presented with a serious threat, and the bombs are to destroy this base. The explosion will give them a good reason to exit this place, while I escape the other direction, hopefully with them believing that I'm trapped and crushed under the rubble."

"Slade…"

"And this," Slade said while opening a door for Rachel. "Is your prison."

"What?"

"The Titans will find you here, save you from the exploding hideout, and once you are at their place, you will tell them your story, have them kill Trigon."

"Can't we just tell them the truth, and work things out with them?"

"Trust me, they won't trust anything as long as I'm with you, they would rather think everything is just a ruse from me to get them."

"Slade, you don't-"

"Go in, and it will be over soon," Slade said.

And once she was in, he promptly shut the door behind her, the cell was transparent, so that the Titans can see who to rescue, that however gave way to the problem of him being able to see Rachel banging on the wall. Fortunately for him, the closure of the door also triggered the cell's secondary function to pump the room with sleeping gas. The gas proved effect just as well on a demoness as it would on an elephant, and Rachel was soon slumping against the wall.

After taking one last look at the girl, Slade turned to face his mentor and butler, "You're not needed here."

They had worked long enough to know that once either of them decided on something, the only thing left to do was to help only if asked, and Slade didn't want him to help. Expecting nothing else from the man, Slade was surprised when Wintergreen spoke, "I hope you don't mind me saying, Sir, but I see something in the way you look at Miss Raven. I hope you aren't replacing _her_ with Miss Raven."

"My mind is clear, if that's what you are wondering. I know what I'm doing. Go home."

"I'll at the mansion," Wintergreen said as he approached the exit.

Slade was used to be working alone, but the time with Terra on board was almost considered fun, but he knew who Wintergreen was referring to. Slade remained speechless about it, still unsure where this was all heading.

"_Maybe he's right."_

Looking back at the cell and Rachel, he mused that it was only just yesterday that they met, and yet all these troubles she was giving him. Walking over to the computer, he requested for views outside the factory, and saw the vehicle Wintergreen was driving rode off into the highway. He then switched to interior view, and saw the robot soldiers, wondering for while if Wintergreen overdid it just this once. Then again, the Titans better be able to best the robots, they would have to fight Trigon later. After making sure the alarms were on, he retreated back to the armchair before the giant monitor, but after a quick reconsideration, he decided to opt for the only bed in this base. Waving a simple bye at the unconscious Rachel, Slade walked towards Terra's room.

Popping himself onto the bed, Slade waited, he cast a gaze towards the postcards, and wondered if the reason he decided to burn this place was because of some bad memories. Exhaustion caught up with him as he fell back into another dream.

…

With the skies tinted red from the fires below, the sea dyed from the spilled blood, and the iconic T-shaped tower bended and crooked, but there was no doubt where he was. Smell of rot lingered in the air, and beneath his very feet were the shattered bones and burned flesh of the dead. All of these were too surreal to be real, it could only be a dream, he realised.

"Where were you?" asked the clear voice that came from amongst the erratic noise of madness that drowned the world.

Recognising the voice, Slade said, "Rose."


	8. Parakeet

The intruder alarm sounded throughout the base, waking Slade up from his nightmare. This time he remembered everything in the nightmare, and wondered if it was Raven's trick, or his subconscious reminding him of Rose, the daughter he abandoned after the deaths of his sons. Fearing the same outcome would happen on her, he left her, and based on the ending he had with Terra, he reminded himself that he did the right thing.

Slade knew in the instance he was awake that something was wrong, his guts were shouting to him that he was in danger, and he knew it wasn't the alarm or the Titans. Even with his eye closed, he knew he was not alone, he could feel the air on his bare chest, and the warm from someone beside him. Without needing to know what it was beside him, he rolled off the bed, dragging the blanket that was on him along. Assuming a battle stance, and with the blanket now on the floor, he saw for himself the similarly naked form of a marvellous little creature on the bed.

"Rachel," Slade said.

Rachel sat up, one hand supporting the body, the other beside the body, neither hand attempting to cover her chest for modesty, and the smile on her face told him that this was instead a Raven.

"Do you know what is going on, _Raven_? Get back to the prison, and wait for the Titans."

"It is not too late, Mister Wilson, you can still kill us, and Trigon will not be able to get over."

The alarm had just sounded, so Slade estimated that would give the Titans ten minutes or so for them to reach the basement, and whoever she was, she was wasting their time.

The demoness then glided from the bed over with the bedsheet as her cloak to where Slade was standing, forcing Slade to loosen his guard to catch the girl. She wrapped her arms around the taller man in an embrace, pressing her naked body against his. "I'm a Raven, but unlike my sisters, I don't repress my feelings, I submit to them, and express them. I love you, as do the other Raven and Rachel even if they don't admit it," the demoness said with her head resting on his chest. Tilting her head up, she looked into Slade's eye with a smile.

"_Was she always this beautiful...? Damn!"_

Slade backed up quickly until he was against the wall, then swung his head forward then back hard against the wall, using the wall to give himself a good smack on the back of his head. Now cleared of whatever hex she had over him, he grabbed the girl by the neck, he turned, threw and thrust her against the wall. With his patience wearing thin, he tightened his hold on her petite neck, and demanded an answer, "What do you want?"

"We love you, Mister Wilson." Even with the force he exhorted on her, the girl managed to say with ease, "I can't let you die. Kill us.

"Why do you want death, after your proposal to defeat Trigon?" Slade said as he bringing his face close.

"That was Raven's plan, she lied to you all along. The Rachel you made the pizza for, the Rachel who restored your body, those were Raven. Rachel never could use her power, she can't read your mind, she can't walk through walls, and certainly can't heal your body. The Rachel you named, the grey one, the embodiment of 'denial', lost her will against Raven the moment she accepted her name. She had never accepted any form of a name before, but the moment she accepted the name you gave her, the moment she believed in you, she lost. One simple name, thought up just to shut her up, was all it needed to make her lose her _self_, and Raven took over since then.

"And Raven! She's a good one, she's our 'hunger', she craves for more just food, she longs for company, acknowledgement, anything to satisfy her bitter desire for a family. You've talked to her, you've filled her mind with hope, reminded her of the good memories of our mother. Just like how you made Rachel forgot herself, you made Raven fell in love with you, and that's where I come in, my dear."

"You think I didn't notice the changes in you? I question myself many times, thinking of many possibilities, and I worked out the same answer you just told me. Back in the sewers, while I was under the hatch, that was the first time the… _second_ Raven appeared, didn't she. The next would be in this room, the red Raven. Then in the morning, it was the second Raven again, followed by the first, but something changed, and the second Raven returned. From then till now, I have been with the second Raven, and now, you, the _fourth_. You may know how to get what you want by reading minds, but I can do the same, from just observing the way people move and act, the way people speak and response, these tell me that there are four of you, aren't there?"

Seeing that, the new Raven said, "You knew… then why didn't you challenge Raven when she told you that there are only two of us? Nevermind _that_, kill us already, that is what Rachel wants."

"And _you_? What is _your_ name? What do _you_ want?" Slade asked.

Surprised by his remark, the new Raven questioned, "_Me_?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm the Raven who's just more literal about our feelings, and our body. I'm the curious conflicting feeling a girl has when she realised that she has grown into a woman. Rachel calls me Raven's love, and Raven calls me Rachel's lust. And unlike Rachel, I'm… fine with whatever name daddy gave us."

"And what do you want?"

"I want you to live," Raven said, but that wasn't enough for Slade, a pause lingered in the air with Slade expecting more out from her, the silence continued until the girl continued saying, "I want to live with you."

"Then, that's settled," Slade said, and simply let go of her.

"What?" the fourth Raven stuttered as she watched the man turned and exposed his vulnerable back as he walked over to the wardrobe to pick another set of his armoured costume.

"I see _it_ in all of you, even in the red one, you are afraid. Even if the four of you are telling four different stories, deep down, you are the same person. You and the first Raven talk of nothing else but death, but why didn't the two of you just kill yourself, won't it be easier to do that than to convince someone else to kill you? The first Raven is afraid of doing it, so do you, and the second Raven. The three of you are the same person, even if you haven't realise it, you want to live, then that's all I need to continue my mission. I will protect you," Slade said with conviction in his tone.

"You can't! You can't just do that!"

"Why not?" Slade questioned as he calmly put his costume back on.

"It's not too late, kill us, and your world and your daughter will be saved from Trigon."

"_Rose,"_ he remembered.

"Yes, Rose Wilson," the girl said. "She is still looking for you, but she will never find you if she's dead, and she will die should Trigon makes it through."

"This doesn't change anything," Slade said firmly. "I was hired to protect a girl, and that I will do."

"Even at the cost of your own daughter?"

"She won't be lost once Trigon is defeated."

"Trigon can't be defeated."

"Trigon can be defeated."

Slade turned around slowly, and placed his hands on her shoulder, looking down, he said, "I will protect you. I will take care of Trigon. Are you going to just give up?"

"Do not risk the world because of the guilt you have over Rose and Terra. You can still rekindle with Rose if you kill us. We are not your daughter, we are not worth saving. And certainly not the red Raven, she's evil and she lies."

"The second Raven told me that your mother taught you to suppress your emotions, I believe she meant well, but she was wrong. No one is perfect, no one is entirely good, you can't hide your emotions, the red Raven is a part of you. The different sides of you are what make Raven, make _you_, human. That's who I'm fighting for."

Raven was once again lost for words, the anger on her face soften and melted back into the serene poker face. The girl looked up once more into his eye, as if to read his mind to see if he was telling the truth. Suspecting that to be the case, Slade let her.

The girl pushed gently so that she could back away from Slade, letting her gaze wander, reading the memories this room held, her attention eventually fell on the sets of postcards on the wall. Looking back at Slade, she then said, "You can just blow up the exit instead of the whole place. I will go up and meet the Titans, and tell them that I've escaped." The fourth Raven walked past the man to where the postcards were pasted, and said without looking at him, "You shouldn't just go around destroying memories just because it didn't go well."

With that said, Raven walked out of the room just as Slade slid on his mask, the last piece of his armour. Slade didn't know when, but Raven was already in her usual cloak and dress, the only thing different was the colour, which was purple.


	9. Raven

**Chapter 9: Raven**

Two days had passed since Raven, or Rachel, gone over to the Titans, and a little surveillance from his side told him that everything had proceeded as planned, but nothing changed. The Titans tried to hide her in their vault, and an eclipse consumed the sun, and she was found. The minions he hired and Wintergreen himself turned to stone just as the skies tinted red from the fires below, the sea dyed from the spilled blood, and the iconic T-shaped tower bended and crooked. With the smell of rot lingered in the air, and beneath his very feet were the shattered bones and burned flesh of the dead, this might as well be hell.

Trigon had yet caught on to his betrayal, so Slade opted to proceed through stealth. Confronting as few of Trigon's fire demons as possible, Slade slid from one shadow to another, occasionally catching a glimpse of the Titans still fighting, in the end, the Titans were nothing but decoys. Disappointed with their performance, Slade reminded himself that he still had some reserve robot army, but since the earthquake and the severing of some connections, he couldn't tell how many of them were not crushed by the fallen buildings, and how many he could reactivate with the press of a button on his remote. Until the real fight began, until the pathetic Titan decoys were lost, he wouldn't deploy them, his unreliable robot army were all he had left up his sleeves.

Though Slade should be focusing his attention on Trigon, he just had to know what happened to Raven. Perhaps it was the little of Raven that was used for his body, Slade had this vague sense of where she was, following the trail. Seeing a fleeing shadow, he gave chase until he cornered the tiny figure.

"Hello, Raven," Slade said in his usual deep husky voice. With all the destruction around, Wintergreen petrified into stone, and no idea what happened to his daughter, Slade was incredibly calm, though it disturbed him, he was even more surprised at how happy he was that he found her.

"Hello, Slade," the Raven said, stepping out from the shadows, letting Slade see her true colour. "Not expecting to see me, aren't you?"

"Red. I was just wondering when you will show up."

Dressed in a torn and tattered cloak, up closed, Slade could not tell if the material was red or just stained by blood, if so, by whose? The hood was over the face, and the shadow hid the features, but the grin was clear, and a pair of red glowing eyes were allowed to be shown.

"Are you expecting anyone else? Perhaps, the submissive one? Maybe, the one with the sweet tongue? Or the naked one? Tonight, you just have to make do with me."

"Raven, where is- _are_ your sisters?"

"Dead," Raven answered as she pushed back her hood, revealing the face he was hoping to find, except this time, her eyes remained red. "They can't possibly survive, bringing father over exhausted us greatly, more so to them than to me, I'm after all, the strongest of us, the closest to our father's strength."

As if able to see through his mask, Raven sighed with disappointment at not seeing any emotion from the man.

"Come, let's fight, Slade. At least entertain me until the end of the world. I promise, I will keep you alive until then."

"I have no intention of fighting you."

"Oh? You don't want to fight the scheming, lying little Raven? We did after all planted the seed of doubt in you back in the sewers, under the hatch, when you looked into our eyes. That was fun, and it have certainly bloomed well," Raven said as she circled around the man in slow steps.

He had long suspected as much, his feeling for Raven was one thing, but the sudden remorse towards both Terra and Rose at the same time, he knew he wasn't thinking straight, but this did challenge him into wondering about something, if he was aware of this all along, just what was Raven to him? Why was he willing to risk his own daughter for a girl he barely knew? And now that he saw for himself up close, he recalled the purple Raven's words, about the red one being evil. He could almost smell it, the tainted of Trigon all around the little red Raven.

"Evil?" Raven questioned as if Slade had spoken out his thoughts. "In a way, the others are just as 'evil'. Just because they can't master father's power, doesn't make them any more innocent."

Unexpectedly, Slade started walking past the demoness.

"You are going to fight father now, aren't you? You can't possibly win."

"What will happen to you after the world is conquered? Will your father let you live? You are of no use to him now," Slade asked without turning back.

"That... I'm aware of, but at least my purpose is served, and I get to see you die failing your promise," Raven said, lacking the confidence she had before.

Slade paused in his steps and turned to say, "Fight with me, against him."

"I'm good where I am. Think of it this way, at least you won't die alone, I'll be there watching. I have the best seat in the world."

"Are you giving up?"

"No one can beat him," Raven said, now appearing rejected.

"You are not as weak as you think you are, you are weak only because you are only one part of the whole. You don't have to fight alone, you are not alone, you have me and your sisters. You need your sisters as much as they need you, accept them. Rachel or Raven, you are who you are. Fight together with them, with me, against Trigon."

"There is no reason for me to work with my sisters, why should I? One only denies the truth and hopes for a better ending, the other accepts her fate and lies to get her way, and the third submits to his lust so as to not get hurt. Besides, we have lost our strength bringing father over."

"I see... I understand now, the four emotions, they all deal with your father? Then, you are the..."

"I'm not anger, hatred or evil as my sisters would called me, if I must use a word to describe myself, then it'll be 'defiance'. I defy my father, I reject my mother, I scorn my weaker selves, and I despise your false artificial sentimental feelings towards me."

"Then oppose your fate, and the future you will have if Trigon is not defeated."

Slade expected the girl to counter him almost immediately, but she said nothing.

"You can't kill him."

"It can be done."

"No, I meant everything Trigon did will be undone upon his death."

"That is a good thing."

"You don't understand, you were brought back to life by him, you will die along side with him."

"I know, if Trigon is defeated, I'll be dead. But the others will live, the world will return back to normal."

"How did you know?"

"I read the report the computer compiled for me, that's the thing you don't want me to find out, isn't it? That's why you made me sabotaged my own computer."

"Yes, _she_ did." Raven looked away, and then asked, "But I don't understand, right from the start, you know that you _will_ die if Trigon is defeated, and you went ahead with it?"

"I was already dead, the world won't miss me."

"You still have a daughter!" Raven screamed, her hands grasping and pulling on the fabric of his costume.

"That's all the more reason for me to make sure Trigon doesn't get her! I thought we were already clear on this."

"Then you are no better than our mother, who abandoned us," Raven said, letting go of his costume, she backed up a few steps.

Turning to take a peek through a gap in the wall leading outside to where the Titans were, he wondered out loud, "Looks like the Titans are getting trashed no matter what, maybe I should release the robots out at Trigon now, then attack from behind..."

"I don't understand you," Raven said blankly as she bowed her head, with the hood finding its place over her head again, blanketing her face in shadow.

Looking back at the girl, he wondered if her cloak was still red, or was it just reflecting the colour of fire and blood around. Slade walked towards her, and pinched her chin with two fingers to tilt her head up, and combed back the hood with the other hand, so that she could see him in his eye.

"You will one day, you will find something that you will die for," Slade said in clear voice, just wanting to be sure that she could hear him.

Slade looked down into her eyes, red and wet, with beady tears by the sides. He wondered if he had ever seen this before in Terra or Rose, he probably would had he spent more time with them. Slade was not terribly fond of seeing girls crying, but somehow wondered to himself if he would miss this moment after he's dead.

"Come," he said as he turned away from the girl, and pulled her by her hand.

Leading the girl like when they first met, he guided her outside to the open air. Fires were everywhere but Trigon's little fire demons were not, hearing the crumbling of another building, he turned his attention towards the sight of Cyborg crashing down, and the alien princess flying off again, throwing more of her little bolts. Like Beast Boy, Robin was floored after being swatted by the giant demon, though looked half broken, Slade could still see the fire in him.

As if sensing something, the Boy Wonder risked a moment looking around, finding Slade watching him, and the missing Raven beside him.

They might not usually share the same opinion about things, if he had to entrust Raven to someone else, it would have to be him.

"Raven, stay here in the shadows," Slade said without looking back her her, though he could feel her gaze on him.

"Slade," she pleaded, trying to hold on to the man's arm, but he quickly brush off her approach and disappeared around the corner before she could follow him. He remained close and in a shadow, he himself not sure what he was waiting for, but once he heard Robin's voice as he approached Raven, he knew why. Now knowing that Raven would be safe, Slade set off to find Trigon.

Trigon was larger than he first expected him to be, so he would need to find some place high to get him. The building he was already in would do, getting up to the roof wouldn't be easy for most, considering the stairs and elevators were down, but not him, his usual confidence aside, somehow, Slade knew that he could fly. The old him would probably laugh it off, or take his time analysing the possibility, but not now, right now, he just need to get the elevator shafts, where he could get a clear shot to the top, hoping that his intuition about being able to fly was correct.

"_Slade Wilson."_

He stopped in his track, it was Trigon speaking in his head again.

"_I was aware of this rescue mission before your small mind had even considered it. And I have known from the beginning that your plan was of no threat. You fail to comprehend the depth of my power,"_ Trigon said.

"Blah, blah, blah," Slade splatted out in response, choosing to ignore whatever mumbles Trigon had for him. Seeing that a surprise attack was no longer an option, he reached for the remote built into his glove, and reactivated the robots he and Wintergreen amassed, or whatever left of them, that should give the Titans some advantage. Arriving at elevator lobby, he kicked the doors aside, and just jumped once he was inside the shaft. There was a single stranded elevator cabin in his way, but rather than dodging it, he just grabbed and pushed it all up through the roof. Arriving at the top of the building, he surveyed the situation. The robots were certainly out, but not as many as he hoped, and certainly not as useful seeing that most of the robots he reactivated were already shredded metals.

Looking at the broken cabin he was still holding by one hand, he admitted that he enjoyed this new power, and told himself that he would make sure Trigon regretted giving him this. After hurling the wasted metal that was the elevator cabin at Trigon's giant head, Slade followed behind in flight. The chunk of metal hit the demon like a paper plane to a brick wall, but the single blow Slade then gave him made him growled in pain. He then used the punch as a leverage to swing himself up until he sat nicely between the horns. A horn in each hand, Slade then rocked himself back and forth, pushing and tugging at the roots of the horns. Trigon was in pain and angry. It was then, that Slade was suddenly overwhelmed by the sense of weakness.

"_Too soon! Not yet!"_

Trigon was taking back what he gave Slade, his body and his life. Time slowed for him as he lost his grips on the horns. Hardening his will and strengthening his hold, he continued his attempt to break his horns. Swinging as hard as he could with all his might, he tore the horns from their roots, yielding a thundering roar of pain from the head he was standing on. Feat accomplished, he slipped, not just from the head of the demon but also from consciousness.

"_Not yet!"_

He saw flashes of bolts and beams through his failing vision as he fell, the Titans were still fighting, but he could no longer do the same. Slade crashed into the ground but felt no pain, his vision dimmed and hearing deafened, he tried to move but couldn't. His fresh rotted and his bones broke, just as how the demon gave him his body, he was taking it all back.

He cursed at Trigon, then at himself. He couldn't feel any more pathetic as he was now, what was that big talk about him defeating Trigon, or saving Raven, all now lost, everything gone, he was dying, and so would the girl.

The last thing he felt was a pair of tiny hands holding him, and a whisper telling him not to die.


	10. Rachel

**Chapter 10: Rachel**

Slade Wilson opened his eye, and closed it. He didn't recognise the place, but one thing was certain, he was alive again. He felt alive and fresh, all pains and aches gone, even the armour he was in felt new and mint. Opening his eye again, he turned his head to one side, and saw the worst possible face to meet in the morning.

"After you...," Robin started off like there was nothing wrong with this picture here, and just stood there by the corner with his arms crossed.

Seeing that the boy was having trouble finding the word, Slade suggested with a dry voice, "Died?"

"Fell," Robin corrected.

The two of them were in some sort of infirmary, Slade's guess would be the Titan's, at least it wasn't a prison cell. He could feel his mask was still on, and somehow knew that Robin didn't peek, he was that kind of a boy, he took after the big Bat after all. Slade tried to put himself back into seating position, and then realised that Raven was sleeping on his chest. Giving up with a sigh, he laid back down.

"After you fell down from Trigon's head," Robin decided to start from the top. "Raven immediately ran out from her cover to your side. She was concerned about you," Robin continued, and Slade could sense the uncertainly in his voice, and Slade couldn't blame him. The fact that there was someone caring for him, even he would find it hard to believe.

"I chased after her, and by the time I reached her side, she was already holding your... body, oblivious to the danger around her. Then Trigon told us about being too late to save the world, and Raven, she responded back by saying _you_ are the friend, the father she never had. Then she glowed and rose like phoenix, challenging Trigon as a giant bird, and in the end, burning him in her light. I've seen it, but it is still hard to believe what I saw, and heard, that Raven defeated Trigon, and you being good. Perhaps I was wrong about you."

"Perhaps I'm better off dead than to hear you talking to me like we are close."

"Perhaps," Robin just said with a smirk on face. "Somehow, I think something you did gave her the courage to fight back Trigon."

"Thank you for your story and hospitality, but I heard enough, and it's time for me to go," Slade said. Sitting up once more, but this time, he cupped Raven's head and gently moved it aside so that he could slip out.

"Are you going to leave her? She believes in you."

"She can believe whatever she likes. I'm who I am, and it's time for me to go," Slade said as he stood up from the bed. Looking once not at Raven but at the Boy Wonder, who remained rooted by the corner, he then said, "She's a good girl, she belongs here."

Robin said nothing in return, maybe for once, they were in sync with something.

Slade had only been here once, that was when Terra stormed the fort with his army, he never really got around exploring the place, but a garage would always be in the basement, so that was he was heading. Thankfully, he met none of the other Titans by the time he found the garage, meeting Robin was awkward enough.

Finding what he was looking for, he ditched Robin's motorcycle helmet aside, and seated himself on the red R-Cycle. Slade suddenly felt the presence of another in the room, he could feel it because a part of the girl was now in him, he pretended to not notice, and turned the ignition key, bringing the machine to a beastly roar.

"Slade?" Raven asked softly, but he could hear it clearly.

Slade turned to face the girl while remaining seated on the motorcycle. She was in her dress without the cloak and hood, whole in one piece and looking brand new.

"Raven, you did great last night, and you're look good in that," he just said. Probably something said just to get things going, but he did find her pretty, and it matched her eyes, oddly enough, he suddenly wondered if she would look just as good in orange and black, but he quickly dismissed the thought away.

"Thanks, it's my favourite colour, and please, call me Rachel," she said with a subtle smile, looking pleased at his compliment.

Other than the rumbling of the engine he left on, the silence between them was long and dreadful, having waited long enough, Slade returned his attention to the motorcycle, and pressed the button he assumed would open the garage door, and it did. He didn't know why, but he had to go. He had become too attached to the girl, his mission with her was done, and Trigon's dead. There should not be any more reason to stay any longer.

"Terra's alive," she said suddenly. As if knowing what Slade was thinking, she then continued, "I didn't do anything. Just that, I think father's death reversed a lot more than the damage he did. And when he died, I saw a bit of everything that are changed."

If she said Terra's alive, he wouldn't doubt it, whether or not she had a hand on this was another matter, somehow, he believed she did. Like him, Terra had no reason to be alive, they were dead long before Trigon came along, his death shouldn't have resurrect them. Coming to think of it, he just traded a demon father for a demon daughter.

Slade's mind went blank all of the sudden, the usual scorn on his face turned into a frown, something he didn't know why at first, but then he remembered what that _other_ Raven told him. He brought up on hand to support his aching head, then he unexpectedly laughed instead, tear almost coming out of his good eye. If this was a game, he had just lost it, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Does it matter what colour am I?" she questioned as if knowing what he was thinking. Gone was the quiet girl with the gentle smile, replacing her was someone cold and emotionless.

"No, it doesn't," he answered. Colours were just colours, he shouldn't be bothered by the fact that the Raven before him had red eyes and was in red, but there were something else beyond these colours, and somehow, he knew that they were now gone for good.

"They're gone, I'm the only one left now," Raven confirmed for him.

"_She_ told me that you are not worth saving, and that you're evil and you lie. Tell me, did you use me?"

"We all lied at some point, and yes, I did used you. You defeated father for me."

"By Robin's words, you defeated Trigon by yourself, you never need me."

"What the other things Robin told you are true as well, you are the father and friend I never had. I couldn't have done it without you. It was your words that made me strong."

"My words, you meant the ones that made the other Ravens weak and lose themselves? I made them believed in me, and they... died because of the promise I can't keep, am I right?"

"They were weak, and their deaths were unavoidable if Trigon was to come over. Their existences hinder me from using my true strength. Not all stories end with a perfect happy ending, but this ended with both Rose Wilson and Terra being alive, you should be happy. What else do you want? I'm not a human you wish I'll be, I'm a demon even if I'm half-blooded," Raven said. She was not wearing her hood, but her face was nevertheless shrouded by shadow, her eyes glowing red like a fierce sun in a pitch black night. Slade was not sure whether she was angry, or that she was just mocking him by showing him her true self, either way, he was too tired to care..

"What will you do now?"

"I'm not going to destroy the world if that's what you are thinking."

For a while, she said nothing else, only blinking a few times as she let her eyes wandered from the man to the morning view outside the garage.

"Robin asked me to stay, but maybe," she started, but stopped herself without completing the sentence. "Maybe, I will go out and visit the world first, visit the places pictured on those little cards. Maybe I will go and find my mother if she's still alive. Maybe when I'm done, and if the Titans are still around, I will return here. And you? What will you do with your life now?"

Turning to look at the man one last time, Raven waited for something, but didn't know what to expect. Even with his mask on, and even without using her power, she knew he was just staring – anger, confusion and frustration, all could be seen in his eye. It looked like he might say something, but he didn't, only shaking his head, turning away, and rode off on Robin's R-Cycle without saying a word or even looking back.

It was dawn, but the garage grew darker and colder. Raven remained by the stairs, looking out at where Slade disappeared out into, waiting for someone to return into her life, and she knew he probably never would, he had others now, his real daughter would find him one day, or him, to her. She chased him away, she had to, she was not the human he wanted her to be, and he couldn't be the father she wanted him to be. There was no regret in her actions, there was no happy ending in the real world, and there was no winner in this game she played.

"Good bye, Mister Wilson," she said in the end as she turned and headed back up the stairs.

**END**

**Author: ****Got a little too free-reined in my interpretation of the bird symbolism. Also, ****I'm totally ignoring Jericho.**


End file.
